Substations with high and medium voltage power networks can have primary equipments such as power transformers, instrument transformers, circuit breakers, switches, electrical cables, bus bars, incomers, feeders, etc which are arranged in switch yards and/or bays. These primary equipments are operated in an automated way by a Substation Automation (SA) system. The SA system includes computer servers, programmable devices called Intelligent Electronic Devices (IED), engineering and operator stations (clients), communication network connecting servers, IEDs and various clients on the network. The SA system is primarily responsible for monitoring, control and protection of substation equipments.
International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) has introduced IEC 61850, now an internationally accepted communication standard for communication between the devices of the substation automation. The current SA systems are developed in conformance to such standards. The IEC 61850 advocates interoperability amongst Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) from various manufacturers using common engineering models, data formats and communication protocol. The adaptation of IEC 61850 for the industrial SA system allows effective use of SA system tools for configuration and designing applications. The IEDs as referred herein are devices which are compliant to such IEC 61850 standard.
In practice, substation and SA system can be tested during commissioning, upgrading or maintenance of the substation or the SA system. Substation and SA system together are referred as “the System” in this discussion. The system is tested against power system conditions relating to the substation in order to address operation reliability and better predictability for a substation. In addition, there are other tests related to connectivity, operation and performance of the SA system carried out on the System.
It is recognized that the tests to simulate power system, power system condition or to test an aspect related to SA system in the System can be of enormous significance and are not trivial. In many cases, the testing is done using highly expensive and bulky test equipment resulting from the need to support analog connectivity to devices in the System or to support multiple devices configured using multiple propriety communication protocols. Often, such tests demand additional hardwiring to be carried out involving SA system devices and substation equipment, particularly in the System that is not completely IEC 61850 compliant.
In certain other cases, the tests are limited to operation of a limited number, such as one device in connection with specific substation equipment (e.g. an IED in connection with a circuit breaker). Such tests can be carried out using relatively simpler test equipment, especially if the device is a IEC 61850 compliant device. However, it is recognized that tests on a System having multiple devices and equipment, such as for a large substation, are complex. This is due to the effort to configure the test equipment and draw inferences. The effort is mainly expended towards configuring the test equipment: a) to recognize the substation configuration and to communicate with each and every device/equipment connected in the System; b) to execute the test plan reflecting operation of one or more individual devices/equipment and capture interactions among the various individual devices/equipment; and c) to test performance and adequacy of supporting devices, for example devices related to communication network (routers, network switches etc).
In the state of art, there is no test equipment that can comprehensively test the System, or provide tests that are simple to perform. The present disclosure describes methods and systems that can, for example, provide such capabilities.